The Chilly Night
by Chris000
Summary: The day before Christmas Eve, Chris and Miles have to take a tree down for the Palace. But what is Christmas about for these young men, and what differences do they have about it? A short, sweet tale that'll hopefully make your day. My first one-shot! Takes place between Soldier's Log and Shadow in the Dark.


**Author's Note: **My First One-shot. Please be kind guys, I'm not used to telling "short stories" as you people call them. Please try to notice I was getting into the season here and I am trying to explain a message. For those of you not familiar with my work, Chris is an original character who is a Marine on a ship trapped in Mobius, but the humans develop travel between the two realities.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays everyone,

Hope you have a wonderful New Year,

-Chris000

* * *

THE CHILLY NIGHT

December 23rd, 3234, 2219 hours

The Great Forest

Mobius

"One more swing should do it!" Chris said brandishing an axe. He wound up like he was going to belt a ball out of the park and swung hard. The axe buried itself deep in the evergreen that he was aiming at. Wood shipped and fell into the fresh white snow. The human yanked it free, marveling at the gash he made in the pine tree. "Look at that, Miles."

Miles Prower gave the cut a look. The young Mobian anthro had to admire the human's skill with the axe, given the fact that Chris had never chopped down a tree before. He had to remind himself that this too was his first time doing this. "Looks pretty good, considering you almost chopped down everything else beside the tree!"

"Ha ha ha, laugh it up, you little fuzzball. Jesus I'm freezing my ass off out here."

It was no accident that they were out here in the middle of the night. The human was out on a mission tonight. True he was out on missions regularly but this mission only came only once a year: Christmas Eve tree hunting. Of course it didn't help that the princess Sally Alicia Acorn sent him out here in what was surely -15 degree Celsius weather according to the PDA he usually wore on the arm; standard issue UNSC equipment.

_God, I can't get away from work for a second_.

Sally could have sent anybody, _anybody_. Sonic, Knuckles, but _no_… send the human who would freeze half to death out here. He muttered a curse in Italian under his breath, one of the few connections to his heritage he held. Come to think of it, the only reason Tails came around with him was because he had never seen anybody personally cut down a tree.

"Get the other side, kid."

Tails took the other axe that Chris brought along with him.

_This is awesome; I'm cutting down a tree!_

"Where do I hit?"

"Does it look like I know?" Chris asked bitterly. Tails could see that the small beard he was growing was already covered in frost. He knew it was the cold talking. 1st Lieutenant Christopher James Vennettilli was a good human, and a decent Marine nonetheless. "Just pick a spot. Just hit the other side, I already weakened this part. Do some mental calculations, how should this puppy fall?"

Tails did do some looking over. The kid was smart, _real_ smart. The Office of Naval Intelligence came to _him_ for advice and here he was asking him which direction a tree would fall!

"If I hit it just two and a half inches below the deepest part of your cut, it should slide right down."

"You're the boss. Just wind up and let it ride."

"You've _never _done this before?"

"Not a single goddamn time. Played junior baseball in grade school so I know how to swing a stick."

"Doesn't the UNSC teach their guys how to use axes?"

"Bayonets, combat knives, even swords if need be. When the _hell_ would we be using axes? That's old technology."

"Just asking."

Tails swung the axe so hard he thought that the momentum would tear the Humerus from his socket. The axe bit deep into the tree bark with a rewarding _crack_. Then, they heard more cracking as the tree started to tumble.

"Mr. Prower," Chris called, "You have the honors!"

Tails, smiling ear to ear, shouted at the top of his lungs, "_TIMBER!_" a few surprised birds sprang from the tree and flew across the sky. Then, the tree hit the ground.

Within minutes, Chris and Tails had strung a length of rope along the tree and started to drag it back to the jeep parked a few hundred feet away. Tails, being the kid he was, asked Chris, "You excited about Christmas?"

Chris was also a kid on the inside too. He was a bit afraid to say it, but came out with it, "I'm not a very big Christmas guy."

That took Tails aback. Virtually almost everyone he met had been excited about the holiday. The Festival of Giving, the Birth of Christ, whatever the hell people called it. But humans, particularly the one in front of him kept on showing surprises.

"Why not?"

"Short and simple, Christmas is a family holiday. You know my story…I'm a little…yeah."

Tails' ears then sunk. He told them about the plane crash…

"Your aunt on Venus? You still have uncles in Maryland, Michigan, Windsor…what about them?"

"Hell, I still have to talk to them. They don't even know I'm still alive. I've been out of touch with everyone on Earth since '32."

"But still, it's a _family_ holiday."

Without another word, Chris grabbed the tree, jumped onto the hood of his car and pulled until the tree was on the top. It was a _huge_ thing almost twenty feet long. Good thing he wouldn't have to drive on any main roads with these things. Cops on Route 107 would nab you for anything.

They got into the Warthog jeep. Chris turned on the engine and rolled up the windows. The heat was the greatest thing he felt all night. True there was no wind out there but anywhere was better than outside. He put the car into gear and drove down their old tire tracks with the tree waving in the bounces.

Ten minutes later, Tails said, "Aren't we your family now?"

"What?" Chris said doing a double take.

"You know, metaphorically speaking, aren't we your family? We accepted you as one of us! We accepted all you humans as soon as you landed. We're all one big family! I know you don't follow the whole religious aspect of it, that's another story Mr. Atheist, but don't you consider us your you know…family?"

"What if I say no?"

"Then you spent six months on Mobius and didn't learn a single thing. I would be ashamed to call you my friend."

"Tails, you're 12. Everybody's your friend, even the school bully and you get together for racquetball every weekend."

"You know, that wasn't very funny."

The Warthog made for a dip in the snow.

"Hang on, we're about to go airborne."

To Tails' eternal fear, Chris actually _gunned it_ down the hill and they caught some air. Tails yelped and the car hit the other side on all four wheels. Chris laughed out loud.

"What if I said yes?" the human asked.

"Repeat that, please?"

"What if I said yes, swabbie?

"Oh, in that case that would make me the happiest boy in the whole wide world."

Chris laughed. "Save me the sarcasm, Petty Officer."

"See, that's exactly what I'm saying, Chris. You're always focused on being a Marine first and a friend second. I could understand that when we were fighting Robotnik together, but now you're on indefinite leave and frankly, you have to see the other side of the fence, come on, for Christmas!"

"Two years I was on a swampball trying to kill rebels who were threatening on launching warheads to every planet in the system. Not _once_ did I celebrate Christmas and I've been in the Corps my whole adult life. It's not important to me anymore. Everyone I knew and loved is gone. Everyone that's still alive, doesn't know I am."

Castle Acorn was a glimmer in the sky. Even in the shattered moonlight, Chris saw the beauty of a real-live castle, left over from the colonial days hundreds of years ago on this planet. He pulled up to an MP that was in a prefab guard gate.

"ID?" He simply said.

Chris held out the card. "Seriously man, we left just a few hours ago."

"I don't make the rules sir. You're good. Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, happy holidays, Marine."

The gate rose and they drove in.

"Watch the flagstones, they get slippery in the winter." Tails warned.

"Roger." Chris said looking at the road ahead. He could see that the Acorn family was already sprucing this place up for the holiday festivities including huge wreaths on the doorways, lights in the bushes, and the statue of Sonic in the gardens was bathed in red and green light. Here he was freezing his butt off with a 20-foot, 400-pound tree. Finding a spot in front of the stairway. Unclipping his seatbelt, he opened the door and the cold crept in again.

"Hey scrooge." Tails asked.

"Yeah?" Chris responded.

"Remember, we all love you, man. Things would have gotten hairy if it weren't for all of you guys. You're my friend, Chris. I love you."

That brought about the warm feeling inside that everybody talked about in the movies. That's what calmed him down a little. "Tails, give me a hand here, huh?"

Tails, looking a little apprehensive, moved to untie the tree.

"You're right. You guys _are_ my family. Megaoplis, Kayro, the 'Factory…Kersiac, Hecks, Geri…they wouldn't like the way I'm acting. Point is we all grew a little stronger. Remember, Miles. No matter what, I meant what I said to you back then. You are my friend." He held out his hand. "Can you forgive a stubborn jackass of an officer?"

Tails looked serious for a moment, but his twin tails started to rustle and soon he was smiling. "'Tis the season, Human." He grabbed his hand and they shook tenderly.

"What say we get this tree inside huh?"

He expected the tree to be heavy, he expected the prickling from the pines, but not once did he think about how hard it was when they were combined at once. To his gratitude, three other Marines joined in. When they got to the doorway leading into the castle, Chris saw Her Highness leaning up against the door with a long sleeved shirt on.

"Have fun out there?" She asked.

"Cold as hell." The human replied. "One pine tree as you requested, Master."

Sally studied the tree, quickly looking it over for anything out of place.

_She got that OCD from her parents, I know it_.

"Looks like a keeper. Hang her up and get ready for another one."

Chris and Tails froze.

"Excuse me?" The fox asked.

"Well, we need another one! We can't decorate the hall with just one tree!"

There was silence for a second as Chris glared at Sally unbelieving. Even the Marines shot curious glances even as their arms began to ache.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"The temperature is dropping by the minute Aunt Sally!" Tails protested. "We can't do this again. Please."

Sally's eyes darted back and forth. Then she said. "How about if I come with you guys, give you a hand. I know it isn't fair if I ask you two boys to do something that I know you aren't looking forward to doing."

"Awfully generous, Highness. Where are Sir Speedsalot and his red friend?"

"Somewhere. Honestly, the one night we need help…guess it pays not to have super speed, huh?"

"There are days, Sal. There are days."

Sally nodded understanding. "Come on. We'll get you boys warmed up, I'll grab my coat and gear and we'll tackle that tree together. We'll be working like -"

"- A family?" Tails finished.

Sally smiled warmly and said, "Those were exactly the words I was going to use."

Tails smiled back.

They began the walk down the hall. Chris said, "Hey, Miles, Princess?"

They both turned and asked, "Yes?"

"I know I don't say this very often…but…Merry Christmas. I love you guys."

Sally smiled and said, "That's the point, Human. That's the point."


End file.
